diff --git a/metadaptb.go b/metadaptb.go
index fdf2ba2..867dedb 100644
--- a/metadaptb.go
+++ b/metadaptb.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package hopp
 
 import "io"
 import "net"
+import "errors"
 import "context"
 import "git.tebibyte.media/sashakoshka/hopp/tape"
 
@@ -148,7 +149,10 @@ func decodeMessageB(
 ) {
 	headerBuffer := [10]byte { }
 	_, err = io.ReadFull(reader, headerBuffer[:])
-	if err != nil { return 0, 0, nil, err }
+	if err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, io.EOF) { return 0, 0, nil, io.ErrUnexpectedEOF }
+		return 0, 0, nil, err
+	}
 	method, err = tape.DecodeI16[uint16](headerBuffer[:2])
 	if err != nil { return 0, 0, nil, err }
 	length, err := tape.DecodeI64[uint64](headerBuffer[2:10])
diff --git a/metadaptb_test.go b/metadaptb_test.go
index f40f25a..cad341f 100644
--- a/metadaptb_test.go
+++ b/metadaptb_test.go
@@ -53,9 +53,7 @@ func TestDecodeMessageB(test *testing.T) {
 
 func TestDecodeMessageBErr(test *testing.T) {
 	_, _, _, err := decodeMessageB(bytes.NewReader([]byte {
-		0x6B, 0x12, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
-		0x01, 0x06,
-		0x00, 0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04, 0x05,
+		0x6B, 0x12, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
 	}), defaultSizeLimit)
 	if !errors.Is(err, io.ErrUnexpectedEOF) {
 		test.Fatalf("wrong error: %v", err)